Southern Arizona-Sonora Saijiki

This document is and will always be a living organism. It will change as often as is necessary to maintain homeostasis.

Winter

Agriculture

-baled cotton

-citrus crops(tangerine, grapefruit, oranges,)

-cotton gin

-fallow fields

-plant early spring flowers (some need winter rains to germinate)

-winter crops: leafy green vegetables, peas, carrots, wheat

-winter garden

Animals

-bats (hibernation and gestation)

-dormant reptiles

-non-migratory hummingbirds

-Sandhill Cranes visit Wilcox Playa

-tortoise burrow

Human Activities

-cover citrus trees and tender cactus (frost sensitive)

-chimenea (a clay pot with chimney use as outdoor fireplace,
usually on patio seating area instead of fire pit)

-Christmas Bird Count

-fill bird feeders/hummingbird feeders

-fireplace (indoor)

-mesquite wood/smoke

-volcanic cinders (plentiful in some areas and used instead of salt on icy roads)

-wood smoke

Plants

-desert broom(seeds like milkweed fluff, copious amounts, can look like dirty snow, copious in December, a.k.a. desert snow, very bad for human allergies)

-deciduous plants drop leaves late fall or early winter

Weather

-desert fog

-frost

-frozen pipes

-graupel (mix of snow and rain)

-ice on bridges

-mountain snow

-valley snow

-winter rain

Spring

Agriculture

-tilled fields

-young cotton

Animals

-first bat

first bat
echolocating
the equinox


July 2nd, 2007 (No. 697)
Mainichi Daily News
Haiku In English

-Western Diamondback rattlesnakes begin to emerge and sun themselves on warm days

Summer

Agriculture

-blooming cotton

-irrigation

Animals

-baby lizards (late summer to early fall)

-Rattlesnakes (crotalidae, may seek cover in shade during the day, may deliver poisonous bite when frightened or provoked)

-Desert Tortoise very active especially following monsoons, drinks from puddles and consumes moisture-rich vegetation

Human Activities

-El dia de San Juan (Saint John's Day, as in John the Baptist), June 24, just after the summer solstice, traditionally the beginning of the summer monsoons. Celebrated by throwing water, water balloons, etc. probably sympathetic magic from pre-Christian times.

Fall

Agriculture

-defoliated cotton

-cotton harvest (often close to USA Thanksgiving)

Animals

-Bats mate

Human Activities

-El dia de los Muertos

-Roasting Chiles (The Chile Man comes with his wire cage which is filled with chiles and cranked 'round and 'round over a gas flame until the chiles are charred, usually in 50 lb. lots, or more. The chiles are taken home and cleaned--skinned and seeded, then packaged and frozen for use during the year.)

Plants

-aloe blossoms(used heavily by hummingbirds when there other food sources are decreasing)